–
April 2010 sees two meetup’s planned…

Building upon the success of @BecomeKnown’s March meetup (which received a great review in the local news and attracted some new faces) I’m very happy to see a true Tuttle101 community spirit emerging – hope to see you at one/both of these:
: –
–
:

Evening Tipple101 by James @BecomeKnown

Tipple101 – Tues 20th April 2010 (7:00 pm) – organised by James @BecomeKnown – click here for more details!!

Venue: *somewhere* inside The George Vaults Rochester (Kent)
(35 The High Street, Rochester – click here for a map)

:

Morning Tuttle.101 by Natasha @NatashaSexton

Tuttle101 – Monday 26th April 2010 (9:30 am) – organised by Natasha @NatashaSexton – click here for more details!!

Venue: upstairs in The George Vaults Rochester (Kent)
(35 The High Street, Rochester – click here for a map)

–
–

In addition… some feedback on the following would be most welcome please! ‘-)
–

Since I organised the first Tuttle.101 back in September 2009 I’ve tried to encourage one simple philosophy: ‘Tuttle101 is not owned or run by me @FellowCreative, it is in fact owned by, and exists because of a growing community of people – and this means that the community are free to shape it, use it, or discard it, as they please’.

I’ve done my utmost to keep the Tuttle and Tipple experience(s) very separate from the world’s of sales, marketing, corporate sponsorship and paid-monthly-memberships but since January I must admit that I have given much thought to the introduction of a logo/identity, not because I want to constrain, dictate or monetize, but because I believe that such a visual key may be useful in establishing further community support.

E.g. over the past few months various people have asked me if I could supply them some  visual assets for blog posts and articles but I’ve had nothing to give them – I’m convinced there’s only so many photos of people drinking coffee you can handle =)
–

With the above in mind, I’d like to introduce two things and I’d love to hear your thoughts please:

–

1. an eNewsletter sign-up system (built using CampaignMonitor or MailChimp) to send out a single email notification each month to a Tuttle.101 and Tipple.101 attendee list (1 email per month, with a simple subscribe/unsubscribe feature – it’ll be concise and to the point, with a simple design theme!).
   >> NOW AVAILABLE HERE

2. two logo’s for community use – one logo for tuttle.101, the other for tipple.101 (please tell me what you think of the following, they have been designed to work alongside pretty much anything in terms of imagery or colour – if the community like them I’ll prepare a host of downloadable assets for you to use on blog posts – and as you see fit).

–

–
The above identity designs can also be found and commented on at  Flickr.com

–
–
More information on Tuttle.101 can be found here.
More information on Tipple.101 can be found here.
More Information on Floor.101 can be found here.

*a better process for finding & writing to an MP* ???

–

A site that has a generic letter to an MP that covers all the major issues with the existing Digital Economy Bill – in the form of a concise list that uses plain English not technical jargon or long words.

Such a letter would be in the form of clickable/selectable/applicable tick boxes to highlight what paragraphs the letter writer wanted to keep or amend. Once selected the text is 100% customisable. The User adds their name, address and based on their postcode a selection of MP’s is displayed (they can select all of them if they so wish). The system tracks the receipt of such a message and sends a tweet out to the users network that is trackable – a GoogleMap is created of letter senders. Perhaps Audio and Video messages too? Plus a feature that allowed Bloggers to submit their related blog posts (just like the http://www.blogactionday.org) ? with an integrated Twitter Avatar feature?
–

Is this doable? Is it worth doing?
How long might it take?
Who might be able to do it easily? The following sites/APIs already exist:

http://www.theyworkforyou.com
http://belocal.com
http://www.writetothem.com (run by http://www.mysociety.org)
http://www.hearfromyourmp.com
http://tweetminster.co.uk
http://www.parliament.uk/about/contacting/mp.cfm
http://audioboo.fm
–

Who might sponsor such a system? Google/Yahoo/eBay/Facebook

For me this has been the toughest and most unproductive week of this year – my mind is elsewhere…

–

I’m frustrated and extremely concerned that very few (Designers, Developers, Freelancers, Bloggers, General Public, Politician’s etc) seem to recognize a major problem looming above above – in addition to that of next weeks Copenhagen Climate Change Conference…

–

I urge you, please do your own research into the proposed Digital Economy Bill – trust me, its a big deal and it needs to be stopped!

Its likely The Bill will be passed by the House of Lords on the 16th of December, and it’ll be heard in the House of Commons on the 6th January.

Please help spread this message in any way you can! Things you can do:

Add a Twibbon to your Twitter Profile
Write & Promote a blog post and Tag it with #debill or #DigitalEconomyBill
Contact or Write To Your MP < this is the most important! MPs need to be aware of the problems!

–

As my dad says, “Son, you need to think before you speak”
… I urge you, please consider this statement as I have done and make your own voice heard:
–

Your ‘Freedom of Speech‘ is *no longer valid* if Your ‘Freedom to Think‘ is removed! – be it about what you might say, do, create or whom you might collaborate with or be inspired by.–

–

The Digital Britain Report published in June 2009 and Digital Economy Bill proposed in the House of Lords sets out a vision for the future that has already raised many questions and set-off many alarm bells regarding data governance, information censorship and content licensing – in short its a massive melting pot that will effect the entire Digital Landscape – which in turn effects You and Your Freedom to Think!

Whether you’re a technology fan or not, its important for you to recognize that your bank statements, medical records, credit card transactions, phone connection, driving theory-test, wages, job applications, newspaper articles, txt messages, emails, television channels, internet services, music and even radio weather forecasts are now digitally connected and delivered – that effects your Right to Privacy and your Freedom of Speech. Obviously it needs some extremely serious consideration, however it appears to be being rushed (pushed) through in front of an election (less than 40 parliamentary days away) – this concerns me *and all of us* greatly!

Putting our Right to Privacy and our Freedom of Speech concerns aside; as a creative fellow the Freedom to Think, be inspired and inspire others is of utmost importance, I prioritize it over making money and I recognize it as more important than my Freedom of Speech. I choose to share and distribute my works and ideas openly using Creative Commons Attribution and I’m inspired by other peoples open content, ideas and conversation daily. I regard closed mindsets, corporate governance, copyright systems and patent laws as *the biggest barriers* to creativity, education, communication and innovation.

I’m not saying that making money from an idea is a bad thing – god knows its on my to-do list but I firmly believe that someone else should be able to access and share my ideas (or use them in a new way) provided they are not using them for financial gain or devaluing my design credit – in my opinion copyright and patent laws need to be redesigned to accommodate this – just imagine what we could do for charities and positive social change!

But I say again, its only the tip of the iceberg and it’s a waste of time campaigning for such things right now because we’ve got more pressing matters to handle!
–

–
Technically, the following act is illegal. Imagine if these laws were applied to your conversation, your ideas and your Freedom to Think:
–

Click here to view the embedded video.

–

I know I’m not the only person who thinks sharing ideas and information without boundaries is truly the key to economic growth, creative enterprise and innovation but from what I’ve seen and read I’m failing to find any evidence that the UK Government or Lord Mandelson are on my wavelength in any way, shape or form.

UK Government, driven by Lord Mandelson, recognizes that our existing communications infrastructures need to be updated. They plan to modernize us with some digital pipework, building blocks and legislation to cope with the futures demand; and to support economic growth, enterprise and innovation – this in itself sounds great!  but…

Whilst Lord Mandelson (Business Secretary and Minister for Information) is driving forward Three Strike proposals to disconnect people from the Internet in the event of copyright violations we are wasting our time arguing that copyright violations may or may not be illegal and do or don’t warrant punishment. The simple fact is this, content in all its forms is now as freely available as conversation and you can’t listen in on every conversation or introduce a giant swearbox – the ‘Business Secretary and Minister for Information’ must surely realize that the businesses of tomorrow won’t actually have secretaries, nor will information be administered – I’ll also suggest he’s smart enough not to care about our squabbling as it only buys him time to push, push, push…

If your mind is stuck on having the Internet as a Human Right or Legal Right as its already viewed by some countries in Europe then you need to look at the larger Digital Landscape and the scope of such non-future-proof policy making: If I download a pirated film, will I be disconnected from accessing my bank account or banned from attending my online Open University lecture?

Hannah Nicklin’s recent Open Letter to Peter Mandelson was perfectly crafted, information packed and said everything it needed to in terms of a protest letter but as she points out in her more recent blog post ‘Its not working‘ – we need a more directed approach and real-world Campaign – so has anyone got any ideas?

Last Thursday (24th November 2009) I went to London to meet the founder of Louder.org.uk and the OpenRightsGroup.Org team. Together we are proposing a campaign (be it online, offline or preferably both) that focuses on today’s digital economy creators, thinkers and makers – tweeters, bloggers, designers, developers, musicians etc…
–

The ultimate freedom is the freedom to think, to express, to have a voice, to create, to share, to connect with others, to collaborate, to innovate, to inspire and be inspired.
–

Share your Creative Freedom! Connection is a Right!
We’ve got 40 days until YOUR Freedom is disconnected!

–

PLEASE call your MP to tell them why the Digital Economy Bill shouldn’t be pushed through before the election << CLICK LINK << and if you want to help directly please email freedom@fellowcreative.com
– Share Your Creative Freedom! and spread the word!

—-

Disclaimer: The ‘40 Days’ reference is based upon ‘40 Parliamentary Days’ as suggested in conversation by the Open Rights Group – these thoughts fell from my fingers into the keyboard – they are my honest opinions and open thinking because that’s what blogs are for right? Please do comment or contact me directly if you feel I need to correct or adjust any details or references…

–

As a gregarious Fellow who gets about quite a lot, I am fortunate to know a large number of diversely talented individuals and companies. So much so that I have never had to contact a recruitment agency to find someone with a particular skill set.

Although I often feel such a network has formed itself quite naturally, when I launched the Fellow brand I did consciously set out to meet gifted individuals that I might collaborate with and even be able call upon when and if I needed to. The name Fellow was born from the concept of exacting standards, academic connection, and a professional commitment to question everything and develop over time – but also the idea that I am a fellow creative, part of a larger community of talented individuals driving the future of technology, communications and creative disciplines forward into an uncertain future.

Many of the people I have met over the last few years have helped to shape what Fellow has ultimately become. I once read that Einstein wasn’t born a genius, he forged himself into one by surrounding himself with exceptionally smart people. I might be about as far removed from Einstein as a scruffy creative type can get, but we do share one thing in common: I am also surrounded by exceptional people.

Over the last few months, people from places like Tuttle, Tweetups, BarCamp and my broader social web have been getting in contact asking if I know anyone who can develop, say, widgets for this or a design for that. In each case I’ve been able to make those connections.

With this in mind, I am proud to launch Fellow Trustees.

The concept is very simple. The people and companies on this list I whole-heartedly recommend. They are exceptional at what they do and conduct themselves with absolute professionalism. I trust them enough to align my Fellow brand with them. They are Fellow Trustees.

If you are thinking about talking to a creative recruitment agency to help fulfill a project, I would say check out the individuals and companies on the following lists first (in time I may even develop some relevant twitter lists too but some of my recommended connections can’t be found on twitter).

–

CLICK HERE TO VIEW LIST

–

–

Over recent weeks I’ve been busy designing Full-Frontal.org programmes and adverts (among other things) and I’m now extremely pleased to be in a position to offer one lucky member of the @FellowCreative social web a chance to attend the Conference for FREE. I wish you all good luck and I’m really hoping that this opportunity might entice a few entries from some skint students – we’ve all been there right ‘-)

–

Photo: FREE Full-Frontal Programme
Original photo taken and uploaded by Remy
–

–
For one day only, some of the most talented and respected developers will be revealing the secrets of their craft in a series of informative talks. Organised by Left Logic and hosted by Remy Sharp – a popular face in the world of JavaScript and a recognized global figure in the art of jQuery –
Full Frontal 2009 will deliver an in-depth look at JavaScript to explore topics including cross-browser accessibility, high performance app development and language usage within mobile widgets.

–

For your chance to win, simply decode the following statement and tweet the correct message along with the #tag and url link as shown below:

–

G FMNC RM UGL UGRF LMRFGLE AMLACYJCB MP FCJB ZYAI DSJJ DPMLRYJ  #FullFrontal09  http://bit.ly/29Rz65

–
–
–
Please note that the winning entry will be selected at random but if there’s less than ten correct entries overall then the first correct entry will be deemed the winner. The competition closing date will be Monday 16th November 2009 at 2pm GMT.

Full Frontal is being held on Friday November 20th at the
Duke Of York’s Picturehouse, Preston Circus, Brighton, BN1 4NA.
For more information visit Full-Frontal.org

–

I am not a Computer Programmer or Web Developer, nor am I a Social Media Consultant, but I do pay them to work alongside me.

–

I designed and launched this very website 6 months ago but due to time limitations and cashflow its never had all the features I’d ideally like. However, during the past 6 months it has still received over 11,000 visits, equating to over 20,000 page views. In terms of well known blogs or online content resources these statistics are minuscule but I think they may prove to be of interest given some key facts: at no point have I spent any money on marketing or print promotion, nor have I paid for services like Google Adwords or Search Engine Optimization (SEO); but perhaps even more interestingly ‘I deliver services based on experience and ideas, I don’t actually sell any online products’ and I’ve written no more than 22 blog posts (this one now being the 23rd).

I decided to write this blog post for five key reasons:
1) a new client asked me my thoughts on evolving their existing website and content to make it more engaging, measurable and profitable. 2) over recent years many organizations and individuals have approached me to ask similar questions. 3) increasingly I meet traditional marketing folk who now call themselves ‘Social Media Marketeers & Consultants‘ because they’ve recently got a blog and started promoting their clients using Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. 4) on a daily basis I see utterly useless blog posts with titles like: ‘20 ways to make money from your website’, ‘50 ways to get your website noticed’, ‘Social Media is the new sales model’ and ‘Top 10 Twitter Tips’… but the 5th and most important reason I decided to publish this post is because I’ve seen very few consultancies or marketeers actually practicing and demonstrating what they preach by making public their very own statistics, mistakes and experiences (separate from the rarely released client case study).

Surely people and organizations are defined by what they actually do, not by what they tell others to do.

Social Media is now a trend, and sadly many individuals and organizations have a tendency to follow the crowd without really questioning or understanding if its actually the right direction or medium for them.

Before you read any further I must make it clear that this very site was not cheap to setup, I spent a lot of my own billable time designing the brand aesthetic and planning the scalable site functionality that sits somewhat behind the scenes, and even though I have long-term partnerships with trusted developers it still cost me over £3000 of my own physical cash to implement at the standard I’d expect (I even used a FREE open-source platform called WordPress) – if I’d delivered the same specification and man hours to a client I would have charged them £6,500 minimum.

Now with the above said, and given my day to day experience of clients, its likely you’ll be sat on one side of a dividing line, one side will be of the opinion that £6,500 is far too expensive for ‘a simple website with no payment facilities’, and the others will be sat enthusiastically amongst some large competitors, but still telling themselves and others that they haven’t got enough budget to create the ’shiniest website with all the trendy features’. I will now attempt to navigate the pro’s and con’s of such a dividing line, but first I offer some context and much needed background:

I was introduced to The Internet and World Wide Web in 1997 (aged 17), by which time I’d already become the family help-desk for programming central heating systems, repairing Microsoft Office macro viruses and fixing Microsoft Windows 3.11 / 95 issues. I was also the sales assistant at Staples who sold ‘the right product, not the most expensive business machine’ to the clueless parent customers who wanted a computer for young Jimmy to do his home-work on. I used plain English and simple explanations instead of jargon terms like Mhz, RAM and Macro Virus.

Before Google was founded in 1998 I’d already designed and hand-coded my first commercial client website compliant with HTML 3.2 and I’d become truly inspired by the potential of digital technologies and shiny things. By early 1999 I’d purchased my first domain name and done enough commercial work to fund my first mobile phone. I purchased my first Apple in 2001 but I’d been using Apple Macintosh’s and Photoshop since Art College in 1996.

I think its safe for me to call myself an early adopter (some might say Geek), but its also clear that I didn’t and couldn’t envisage the Digital World in which we live today, nor could I imagine that I’d now be recognized by the leading technology brand that built my first mobile handset or be facilitating thinking at the UK’s largest specialist Social Media Agency.

With the above outlined I will say again: I am not a Computer Programmer or Web Developer, nor am I a Social Media Consultant. I am a Creative Midwife™ and Joiner-of-Dots; I deliver ‘What Can Be’ by joining dots between ideas, people and technologies.

I must also make clear that my mind and enthusiasm for technology has never been driven by consumerism or the latest materialistic fashion. I am driven by possibility and I believe: 1) if something is not broken then there is no need to fix it. 2) form follows function. 3) if you plan and choose well you buy few. 4) if you opt for the cheapest option it will undoubtedly prove to be the most expensive in the long-term. 5) an author can’t engage everyone by telling a single inspirational story, but if they choose to release a range of short stories amongst a group, at least one is likely to be shared (amongst or beyond the group) to inspire more engagement with their works.

As an insight to belief number three: the 1st Generation iPhone (2G) I purchased in 2007 is still my chosen mobile phone handset today (its only my third mobile phone in over ten years). Sure I use almost every feature it has to offer but I see no real ’sustainable’ benefit in upgrading it to the latest iPhone 3GS (or any other device currently on the market). My first mobile phone was a Nokia 6110 purchased in 1999, in 2003 I purchased a Sony CMD Z7 which I used for four years until my iPhone purchase (its also worth noting that I gave my Sony CMD Z7 to my dad and although he doesn’t use the Email or Mobile Internet functionality for which I bought it, he does still use it today).

Likewise to my iPhone, neither of the early devices were the cheapest but because I understood exactly what I needed them to do and how my requirements for them might evolve I managed to make each investment last 4 years (which in terms of technology is a very long time indeed). Yes there is now a newer version of the iPhone available but its not that much quicker than the one I bought two years ago, and even though the new release has video capability, the camera quality still isn’t good enough for me to do with it what I’d like. Even now, probably a year before such a device is released, I can say that my next handset will allow me to create both low and high-quality image/video content at different resolutions at the flick of a switch, the camera lens will swivel 360° and have zoom functionality, it will allow me to live-stream video to the internet without a need for a permanent WiFi connection, as well as be equipped with the existing Mac compatible syncing and web-based feature-set I require for my work (including all the online conversation and application integration I already use on a daily basis). You might also be interested to know that I did in fact type-up, upload and edit parts of this blog post via an iPhone WordPress application; I also have an iPhone application that enables me to view the real-time Google Analytics for this very site.

During recent years my career and enthusiasm has left me privileged enough to play with the latest gadgets and Nokia prototypes, I’ve embraced social networking head-on (I started using twitter.com on 16 December 2007, at least a year after I’d joined Facebook), and before most people had even heard the term ‘Social Media’ I was employing the talents of ‘now widely recognized professionals’ such as Social Media Journalist Christian Payne (@Documentally) and Social & Learning Technologist Josie Fraser (@JosieFraser). More recently I find myself pioneering video conversation platforms like Phreadz and exploring the potential of live-streamed video direct to (and from) a mobile device.

When I purchased my first mobile phone in 1999 I perceived its function as being ‘a central point of contact for me to make and receive phonecalls and txts whilst mobile, so I could keep in touch with and be contacted by others’. In hindsight I now believe the role of the mobile device has evolved to be much broader (some might say its always needed a broader description).

I now suggest it is a device to ‘manage and enhance communication, connection, expression, education and inspiration’ that helps deliver ‘mobile conversation, interaction and content to not only my fingertips and senses but those of my community, wherever we are’ – thus making engaging media increasingly accessible and more ‘digitally social’.

And being bold I suggest that such a description should be the leading thought amongst anyone building or commissioning websites or online marketing from this day forward.

Please note I use the term ‘digitally social’ as a precautionary phrase because I don’t want anyone to think that I see digital ‘virtual-world’ communication as a superior replacement to actual face-to-face ‘real-world’ interaction when in fact I don’t believe anything will ever be better than a conversation in a ‘real-world’ café over coffee or a Guinness.

The main point I’m trying to make here is that ’socially engaging communication’ does not take the form of a traditionally published press release or one-directional article on a static website or homepage. It does in fact arrive in various distributable *multi-directional* shapes and sizes which can be shared across and added to all manner of other websites, devices and applications, and accessed everywhere and anywhere, through monitor, touchscreen, keypad or API, and more often than not without any need for a user login. Most importantly, because different people communicate in different ways and like to be communicated to in different ways, conversational and engaging content is multi-channel, it takes the form of videos, images, text, audio, links and any other expressive medium you care to think up.

Back in 1997, whilst I was hand-coding my first websites, I watched businesses discover the Internet trend, they very quickly went from spending £6,500 on the design and print of 8,000 brochures, to having expectations of ’spending less’ but instantly having more than 8,000 potential customers on their website. Just like many others at the time, I perceived a business website as an online version of a business brochure (with a few interactive bits thrown in to enhance engagement) but for at least the past four years I’ve understood, created and interacted with websites, brands and online content in a completely different way. But I suggest that many key folk still haven’t noticed this fundamental evolutionary shift.

It appears that a difference in perception now forms a fundamental barrier in brand communication, social engagement and most importantly ‘positive social change’ – and I can’t help but feel that many businesses and NGOs (who are potentially key ‘content producers’ and ‘citizen journalists’ for social good) haven’t yet grasped a simple related fact:

Online communication is no longer about having a web-based brochure containing one-directional promotional spiel supported by some retouched photos, a list of positive testimonials and a contact form; nor is it about setting up your own ‘walled and branded’ social network or forum. It is actually about *being ready and prepared* to connect with people on their terms, where they like to hangout, without giving them a sales pitch or trying to distract them with an advertising banner, but by providing them with some useful, thought provoking and inspirational content of actual substance (something that they want to share or engage with). Having a website is in fact only a small part of a much larger network of communication activity (both online and offline), where engaging content, personal inspiration and useful community connection actually rises above the noise – to an inter-connected and open domain; a platform for people to promote your message, support your values and inspire others to engage with you directly – welcome to the social web!

The Web Trend Map below may help put your business website into perspective (please remember that this image is only a small section of a much bigger picture).

–

Image: http://informationarchitects.jp : Web Trend Map 3 Original image uploaded and licensed under creative commons by Evitc–

–

Now I’ll try to explain how I followed my outlined principles to float above the noise and deliver over 20,000 page views within 6 months; only publishing 22 blog posts and without spending anything on marketing or promotion (or generating any SPAM or eNewsletters).
I’ll also explain what I believe to be my return on investment [ROI], plus the additional social return on investment [SROI].

I intend to explore how I implemented WordPress.Org as both a Content Management System (CMS) and Blogging Platform to develop a scalable and adaptable website with a life expectancy of at least two years (hopefully four years). I’ll cover both my WordPress Statistics, Google Analytics, Bit.ly URL Monitoring, Comments and Trackbacks. I’ll cover my use of Social Media and what value and time I give to it (in addition to my continuous client deliverables, real-world networking, event attending and presentation commitments). I will also cover the value a well executed design instantly added to my site in regards to Google Rankings and FREE Third Party Promotion. I’ll explain why I haven’t yet paid for Google Adwords or Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I’ll close by trying to explain my current Google Ranking and so called ’strategy’ for the next 6 months.

To be continued… this document is constantly evolving, now replaced by this.

–
What is Tuttle?
The Tuttle Club is a loose association of people working better together both online and off.

It is not a business networking event. It is simply a meeting place for people to share in conversation, have a coffee, work on their laptop (with free WiFi), and hopefully talk to complete strangers about what they are reading, inspired by, or perhaps even working on in their shed or spare time – hopefully leading to some creative collaboration and long-term innovation.

In this video, Lloyd Davis (the Founder of Tuttle) loosely outlines it’s story in conversation with Chris Dalby:

–
When and Where?
Monday 5th October 2009 may seem like a strange day for a networking event, but I repeat, this is not a business networking event! 9.30am – 11.30am, wear what you like, bring who you like, share what you like, and it doesn’t necessarily have to end at 11.30am.

The Venue: The George Vaults (35 The High Street, Rochester – upstairs!). It’s free to attend (you might have to buy your own coffee).

You don’t need to sign-up to attend but please do email or leave a comment below (with preferably your name and email) so we have a rough idea who’s and how many are coming. If anyone would like to sponsor the coffee please don’t hesitate to let me know =)

If you’d like more information please email (tuttle101@fellowcreative.com) or call me directly (Carl: 07929 601737).
More information on the ‘now global’ Tuttle Club can be found via the original tuttleclub blog.

We look forward to meeting you there =)

–

Photo: Nokia Bluetooth Stereo Headset BH-905
Original photo taken and licensed under creative commons by Me
–

Now, upon hearing the term ‘Bluetooth headset’ you can be forgiven for conjuring up images of ‘traditional earpieces and call-centre esq microphones’. The truth does in fact reveal a pair of sleek looking DJ-esq headphones, equipped with microphone functionality, and capable of connecting wireless-ly and seamlessly to almost any device via Bluetooth – including your mobile phone and Bluetooth enabled laptop (my Mac integrated them within seconds without any need for a separate software install).

As a freelancer, and regular co-worker at places like The Skiff, I spend much of my time wearing a pair of Sony MDR-500 DJ headphones, after four years I’m now on my second pair. Without breaking the bank (available for around £50), and remembering that I’m not a professional DJ or Sound Engineer, the MDR-500’s are my preferred ‘cans’ for both sound quality, environment-noise reduction and build comfort (DJ professional MDR-700’s are available for around £85 but these are unwarranted for my uses).

With the above said, I’ve now tried Nokia’s BH-905’s, and I might never buy another pair of MDR’s (and from a life-long fan of Sony this is big news!).

Nokia’s headset is priced at around £250, that’s £200 more expensive than my beloved Sony’s and I’d suggest the sound quality and build quality is extremely similar, but as a user of audio/video services like Skype and Phreadz, and as a regular attendee of virtual events and sometimes noisy co-working environments, the Nokia headset comes equipped with ten powerful weapons that appeal to me greatly:

Its the first product to feature ‘multi-microphone feed-forward active noise cancellation technology’… meaning its equipped with ten individual microphones that work together to provide more accurate noise cancellation for both voice and music.

For any freelancers or co-workers out there who’d like to make calls to clients without them hearing everything else that’s going on around you, or as a co-worker who’d like to work to the sound of your music (or even in silence) without distraction I suggest that Nokia’s certainly worth a look.

Nokia are convinced they’ve created the best Bluetooth headset ever built, and being totally honest I’m inclined to agree but I feel the £250 pricetag won’t make it the winner it should be.

–
However, when I think how much some people spend on other microphones, headsets and VOIP services, and how ridiculous some Bluetooth earpieces look, I think £250 might actually be warranted – especially if I could actually charge it through the USB port of my Mac (on the move) but from what I’ve seen it currently has to be charged directly from a plug on a mains supply which in my book is its only major flaw – I hope you’re listening Nokia! please correct me if I’m wrong but there was no USB cable in the box I demo’d ? =)

The Headset comes packed in a case with audio cables and adapters galore. Finally I’ll note that the headphones do work via a normal audio-jack if you wish to save Bluetooth juice, but be aware that if they run out of power the noise cancellation feature won’t work (I’m yet to discover if the voice microphone dies at this point too but I’m guessing it does?).

PLEASE NOTE: Micky Fin (Editor of NokiaUsers.net) has since informed me that the Headset does recharge via a MicroUSB FTW!! – many thanks Micky ;-)

Here is Nokia’s explanation of the technology:

–

–
More details can be found here on the official Nokia BH-905 micro-site.

–

To read more content from our Budapest adventures here are some relevant links:

#BudaViral: Social Media Adventures in Budapest with Nokia
Nokia Nseries Campaign: A Storyboard of Secrets from Budapest #BudaViral
Brand Philosophy: Is Nokia a Starfish or a Spider?
-
My Review: Nokia Booklet 3G
Ben’s Review: TheReallyMobileProject.com – Nokia Booklet 3G
Stefanos’ Review (in Greek): Pestaola.gr – Nokia Booklet 3G
-
N97 mini and N900 stuff can be found here: http://thereallymobileproject.com
-

–
The past months have proven extremely busy with client projects and some might say dreaded speculative work (from the usual bread-and-butter design-for-print work such as brand guideline production for enterprise and magazine adverts for talented independents like Remy Sharpe of Full-Frontal Conference, to client WordPress sites and blog development; lending some free time to organizations like Nacue and P45 Camp – plus more strategic dot-joining stuff like writing Social Media adoption documents relating to Training & Education, online conversation and other shiny technologies – including some really cool opportunities in the arena of live-streaming video (hopefully more to come on that!).

From what I can remember I’ve not attended #tuttle in weeks and I missed Cozy Tweetup but I did get to the AudioBoo bash to meet interesting tweeple like @briancondon @dailytwitter and @alexwoodcreates. I’ve also had the pleasure in working with great teams like Toggle and Leaps & Bounds.

In addition, I managed to take six days out to go camping in Cornwall which involved an awesome sea-fishing boat trip landing me twelve fish approximately five miles of the coast of Newquay, plus given the fact I’m self-employed I managed to crowbar in three of those days to work from a tent surrounded only by cow fields, friends and cider =)

Sadly all of the above has meant that my ‘already infrequent blog posts’ have been ’seriously thin on the ground’ but a break in my client workload over recent days has resulted in an out-pouring of thoughts and related research links from a build up of draft text/blog documents, quotes and random pages of iPhone Notes I’ve been pondering, consuming and bookmarking over recent months.

This weekend I unexpectedly managed to attend one day of Brighton BarCamp 4. And I’m hoping to get to visit Tunbridge Wells Tuttle this week.

I’ve currently got three paid client projects on the project board but in true ‘non-linear’ thinking fashion I’m also pursuing a few other endeavors/ideas including the long standing SustainableWidget.com plan, the creation of Floor101 – an open Co-working Space for Creative and Digital freelancers in Kent and #Deathbook – an open-source campaign to raise awareness of Digital Literacy and Asset Legacy.

I’ll leave this post here for now. If you have any thoughts please do comment below and I will reply =)

Positive thoughts and Paulo Ceolho proverbs,
Carl @fellowcreative